I.
The
epic
poem
Beowulf
is
about
the
collapse
of
the
heroic
world.
The
poem
is
elegiac
in
that
it
expresses
sorrow
just
as
an
elegy
expresses
sorrow
in
the
form
of
a
poem
or
song
composed
for
one
who
is
dead.
This
elegiac
quality
is
established
in
the
prologue
when
Shild
dies
and
is
put
out
to
sea,
the
“whale‐road.”
II.
Mead‐Hall
Heorot
as
the
central
image
of
the
heroic
world:
• Microcosm
of
ideal
society,
a
restored
Eden,
wherein
the
relationship
between
the
King
and
his
subjects
is
one
that
mirrors
God
and
mankind.
The
“good”
King
protects
his
people
and
generously
bestows
treasure
in
exchange
for
loyalty,
obedience,
and
service.
• Island
of
civilization/community
in
the
midst
of
nothingness/chaos.
o poetry,
song,
feasting,
gift
giving,
boasting,
expressions
of
fidelity
• Grendel,
the
exiled
one
who
cannot
be
part
of
ideal
society,
represents
the
threat
that
anger
and
resentment
pose
to
civilization.
Just
as
his
father
Cain’s
anger
at
God
and
resentment
toward
his
brother
destroyed
a
family,
Grendel
threatens
Hrothgar’s
family
of
warriors.
o He
turns
a
place
of
feasting
into
a
place
of
mourning.
o He
perverts
the
table
of
communion
(I
don’t
mean
Christ’s
communion)
into
a
cannibalistic
and
savage
meal.
o Monsters,
like
Grendel,
represent
disorder
and
the
evil
that
threatens
to
destroy
heroic
civilizations
like
that
embodied
in
Heorot.
Ironically,
men
like
Hygelac
(a
giant)
and
Unferth
(literally
“un‐
peace”)
share
monstrous
qualities
and,
of
course,
threaten
to
destroy
the
heroic
world.
o Look
for
these
couplings
that
embody
the
tension
between
order
(mead‐halls)
and
chaos
(monsters).
 inside/outside
 town/marsh
 night/day
 Grendel/Beowulf
 Grendel’s
mommy/Beowulf
 wergild/massacre
III.
The
Significance
of
Lineage:
Characters
are
more
frequently
referred
to,
not
by
their
first
name,
but
as
the
sons
of
their
fathers
–
for
example,
“Hrothgar,
son
of
Healfdane”;
“Beowulf,
son
of
Ecgtheow”;
and
“Grendel,
son
of
Cain.”
• Establishes
one’s
worthiness
to
come
into
the
presence
of
the
king
or
not
(e.g.,
Beowulf
must
proclaim
his
pedigree
in
order
to
impress
the
guard
and
then
again
in
order
to
gain
Hrothgar’s
assent
to
take
on
Grendel).
• In
the
heroic
world,
fathers
not
only
bequeath
their
weapons
and
their
treasure,
but
their
feuds.
“The
sins
of
the
father
are
visited
upon
the
son.”
Thus,
Grendel
is
an
inheritor
of
evil.
But
Beowulf
is
an
inheritor
of
Hrothgar’s
esteem
and
respect
before
Beowulf
completes
any
act
to
earn
that
respect.
Why?
Because
Beowulf’s
father
was
a
“famous
soldier
known
far
and
wide
as
a
leader
of
men.”
Because
Hrothgar
“knows
of
his
noble
birth.”